I am a CPA in Texas with an MBA from the University of Chicago. I have seen a lot and made many mistakes. Hopefully by now I will have learned something from them. Just as importantly, you may learn something from my mistakes. You can e-mail me by clicking on my "View my complete profile".

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Iran's War

"Convinced that the Obama administration is preparing to retreat from the Middle East, Iran's Khomeinist regime is intensifying its goal of regional domination. It has targeted six close allies of the US: Egypt, Lebanon, Bahrain, Morocco, Kuwait and Jordan, all of which are experiencing economic and/or political crises. Iranian strategists believe that Egypt is heading for a major crisis once President Hosni Mubarak, 81, departs from the political scene. ... Last month, Egypt announced it had crushed a major Iranian plot and arrested 68 people. ... The arrests reportedly took place last December, during a crackdown against groups trying to convert Egyptians to Shiism. The Egytian Interior Ministry claims this proselytizing has been going on for years. Thirty years ago, Egyptian Shiites numbered a few hundred. Various estimates put the number now at close to a million, but they are said to practicetaqiyah (dissimulation) to hide their faith. ... In Bahrain, Tehran hopes to see its allies sweep to power through mass demonstrations and terrorist operations. Bahrain's ruling clan has arrested scores of pro-Iran militants but appears more vulnerable than ever. ... Iran-controlled groups have also been uncovered in Kuwait and Jordan. According to Kuwaiti media, more than 1,000 alleged Iranian agents were arrested and shipped back home last winter. ... As for Jordan, Iranian strategists believe the kingdom, where Palestinians are two-thirds of the population, is a colonial creation and should disappear from the map--opening the way for a single state covering the whole of Palestine. Iranian Supreme Leader Khamenei and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad have both described the division of Palestine as 'a crime and a tragedy.' Arab states are especially concerned because Tehran has succeeded in transcending sectarian and ideological divides to create a coalition that includes Sunni movements such as Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, sections of the Muslim Brotherhood, and even Marixst-Leninst and other leftist outfits that share Iran's anti-Americanism. ... Khomenist propaganda is trying to portray Iran as a rising 'superpower' in the making while the [US] is presented as the 'sunset' power. The message is simple: The Americans are going, and we are coming", original italics, my emphasis, Amir Taheri at the WSJ, 4 May 2009.

Hmm, Egypt's Sunnis acuse Shiites of takiwa. Two-thirds of Jordan's population is Palestinian. Now is Jordan the Palestinian state? Iran looks like the Middle East's rising power to me. It offers the various Arab states a chance to hop aboard its train. Jordan is a "colonial creation". Iran's right on this, Jordan was created in 1946.